Metro Connect 2025: Medical pioneer's trillion-dollar AI infrastructure vision

Metro Connect 2025: Medical pioneer's trillion-dollar AI infrastructure vision

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Abraxane

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Abraxane, has set his sights on transforming both healthcare and telecoms with AI-driven infrastructure.

Speaking at Metro Connect 2025, he detailed his decades-long strategy of building a hybrid fibre-wireless network capable of supporting real-time medical AI applications.

At the heart of his vision is MOX Networks, a fibre infrastructure company he established over a decade ago in anticipation of AI’s growing data demands.

“We built MOX to ensure we had a secure and controlled network for medical AI,” he said, emphasising the need for high-speed, low-latency connectivity to support real-time patient care.

Subscribe today for free

Patrick Soon-Shiong, billionaire inventor of the cancer drug Abraxane, speaking at Metro Connect 2025

Soon-Shiong highlighted the explosive growth in medical data, pointing out that a single X-ray used to be 15MB, but AI-powered diagnostics can now generate up to a terabyte of information per patient.

His solution? A “neural-augmented network” spanning fibre, 5G, satellite, and a proprietary ultra-low-power semiconductor chip for gigabit-speed wireless data transfer.

Through investments in NantWorks, Tensorcom, and a suite of AI-enabled healthcare companies, Soon-Shiong has quietly built an ecosystem designed to revolutionise patient monitoring, dubbed Hybrid Fabric.

His portfolio has created what he described as a “Rosetta Stone” to compile healthcare data onto “a single pane of glass” – providing clinicians the ability to monitor patients no matter where they are.

His technology can reportedly predict critical events like heart attacks minutes before they happen, allowing doctors to intervene proactively.

“We knew this day was coming,” he said, referring to the necessity of edge computing in healthcare.

His latest chip, built over 10 years, is designed to move data at high speeds while consuming minimal power — potentially redefining how medical AI operates at the network edge.

Soon-Shiong’s long-term vision extends beyond US borders. He revealed plans to expand his AI-powered healthcare network into the UK and hinted at global ambitions, leveraging undersea cables developed in collaboration with Google.

With the convergence of AI, telecom, and medicine, Soon-Shiong believes his hybrid infrastructure could reshape both industries.

Referencing comments from DigitalBridge CEO Marc Ganzi during an earlier keynote, Soon-Shiong said it demands a trillion-dollar opportunity for the healthcare industry alone.

Referencing OpenAI’s $500 billion Stargate project, Soon-Shiong said: “There's amazing opportunity for fibre, but we need to go beyond fibre.”

RELATED STORIES

Metro Connect 2025: Fibre frenzy takes centre stage as tower sector falters

Metro Connect 2025: IBM’s former AI chief on the tech set to replace today’s semiconductors

Gift this article